New Winslow S8E40
It was warm and Roman wasn’t here, but Cleo still felt like she’d gone back in time a year and a half as she helped Noah up the walkway. She wasn’t carrying him this time, mostly just staying close and redirecting him as he teetered or stopped walking. But that same unsettling feeling was there.
And just like last time, Liv’s door opened as soon as they were inside. Andrew stood there, the thin light of the hallway setting his face in shadow. Noah didn’t say anything, just tried to go around him and straight upstairs. And it might have worked if he hadn’t caught his foot on the steps and fallen painfully up them.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“Noah,” Andrew said.
He went to help Noah up and she saw Noah surrender before he could fight Andrew off. That was a relief at least. With all his talk of how they should give up on him, she had a feeling that it was far from over, but at least he wasn’t going to fight Andrew right now.
Andrew started walking Noah upstairs and Cleo went into Liv’s apartment, where Liv was sitting on the couch. She looked over as Cleo came in, eyes bloodshot. “Is he okay?” she asked dully.
Cleo shrugged, sitting down beside her. “I think so,” she said. “All things considered.”
“They buried the book that was supposed to help Billy move on,” Olivia said. “And it didn’t. So Noah brought him to where his dad’s buried. Andrew told me the plan was to ask his dad for help and see if that made any difference.”
“He helped,” Cleo said, the pieces coming together. “But Noah couldn’t see him.”
“Shit,” Olivia muttered. “God, no wonder he did it. He called Jude?”
“Yeah, he was too ashamed to call you or Andrew apparently. Him and Sarabeth handled everything.”
“Jude’s a good guy.”
Olivia wiped her eyes. “Andrew has him?” she asked. “He’s safe?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think they’d mind if I go to sleep?”
“Of course not,” Cleo said. “You go to bed, I’ll check in in a few minutes. He was okayish. Not as bad as we’ve seen him before.”
“No, but…”
She didn’t need to finish. “Yeah,” Cleo said. “I talked to him some, he’s open to maybe getting help. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
She gave Olivia a side hug before she could get up, pulling her in tightly. Liv stayed there for a moment, her head on Cleo’s shoulder. Then she got up and went into her room, closing the door gently behind herself. Alone again, Cleo got up and started upstairs. She’d peek in quickly, then let Andrew and Noah have some privacy.
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Maybe it was because Noah had been more coherent the night before, but Andrew felt a little better than he expected when he woke up the next morning. Noah was still asleep beside him and Andrew carefully moved out of the bed, sliding out and walking to the bedroom door before Noah could wake up and spot him. He went out and saw Cleo asleep on the sofa. She, unlike Noah, woke up as he passed by.
“Morning,” she said, sitting up.
“Morning.”
He went into the kitchen and looked at the coffee maker on the counter. “Do you reckon you can operate this?”
“Don’t you own a coffee shop?” Cleo asked as she stumbled into the kitchen behind him.
“Yeah, but we weren’t operating rocket ships to make our coffee,” Andrew retorted. “And then it burned down. Do you know how this thing works or not?”
“Yeah, hang on.”
She took over the machine as Andrew pretended to watch and learn behind her, but was really keeping an ear out for Noah. A few minutes later, they both had cups of coffee in front of them. There was sweet creamer in the fridge, normally only there for Andrew. So he poured a healthy amount into his coffee before returning to Cleo.
“So Jude called you last night,” he said quietly as they sat down at Noah’s little kitchen table.
“Just because he didn’t have your number,” she said.
“Ah.”
“His girlfriend is lovely, by the way,” Cleo said with a pointed look. “She was there too. So I have to guess they weren’t going at it in the forty minutes between him calling and me arriving. Not to mention the fact that Noah was wasted.”
He supposed he had the decency to feel a little silly. But he’d rather feel jealousy than this bone deep fear he felt with Noah these days. “So what do we do?” Cleo asked.
“I reckon the easiest way to get him to shut us all out again would be an intervention,” Andrew said. “But clearly this isn’t enough anymore. Something has to change. I think this is all just too much for him and I’m not surprised. After the year he’s had?”
She told him what Noah told her last night and Andrew was close to tears when they connected the dots. He wanted to be angry with Noah, he wanted to be absolutely fucking livid, but couldn’t bring himself to be more than frustrated.
“I’m supposed to go to a job interview this morning,” Cleo said, looking down at her cheerful pink coffee mug.
“Shit, can you get there?” Andrew asked. “Like, if you leave right now, can you get there in time? You don’t have to stay.”
“If I left right this second, I could go straight to the office and be there on time,” Cleo said. “I know, I should go. I really don’t want this job. But I need one and I can’t just turn my nose up at a job, right?”
She expected Andrew to agree with her, he could see that. But right now, he wasn’t sure he did. “Cleo,” he said instead, grateful for the distraction, even if it was at her expense.
“Yeah?”
“How are your sales?”
She shrugged. “As good as they can be, I guess.”
“But – sorry, I should be less specific. I mean, your earnings in general. They’re still good?”
“Yeah,” she said. “The licensing deals and all that, some royalties, and I’ve got some shows coming up. They’ve been good. But I can’t rely on them entirely.”
“No, of course not,” Andrew said. “But would you consider getting a part-time position alongside it? I truly think that this is the perfect time for you to just go for it.”
On paper, it was probably the absolute worst time for her to just go for it. But as he said it, the stronger he felt about it. Cleo was in a good place in her career, with opportunities to keep moving. Her rent was paid for a little while, her licensing deals and royalties were doing well. And most importantly, her mum was taken care of.
And if any hesitation had to do with him, Andrew would simply murder her and that would take care of that.
He waited for her to refuse, but she just looked at him for a moment, tracing a finger over the handle of her mug. “Do you think so?”
“Yeah, I absolutely do.”
“But what if it doesn’t work out?”
“Then you start looking for a new job again. Won’t be the first time.”
“No, but…”
“And if it all goes to hell, you can stay with me.”
He reckoned Olivia and Noah would gladly invite her to stay with them if the worst was to happen, but this implied that he would also be out. Not that he fully believed it as he said it, but maybe it could mean that he’d move into yet another sorry little flat in New Winslow too.
“I’ll consider it,” Cleo said. “That… that could really work, couldn’t it?”
There were footsteps in Noah’s room and they both paused, listening. A moment later, he was walking out, shirtless and rubbing at his eyes with a very obvious hangover. He stopped when he saw them in his kitchen.
“Hey,” Cleo said.
Noah looked trapped as he looked beyond her. “Do you want some coffee?” she asked him gently.
“Why are you here?”
“Do you remember last night?”
His face fell. “I’m so sorry.”
“Come sit with us,” Andrew said.
He wasn’t going to say it was okay, because they all knew it wasn’t. He’d only stop when he was ready to stop again. And maybe he was, but that wasn’t Andrew’s call to make. So for right now, Andrew was just going to pour Noah a cup of coffee and stay here as long as he needed.
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